Domestic InFlux

Author

Tannenbaum, Samuel

Date

2013-09-16

Advisor

Wittenberg, Gordon

Degree

Master of Architecture

Abstract

“Domestic InFlux” is a thesis that, through study of past typologies and modern technologies, creates a platform to produce new forms of privately owned houses that allows the user to accommodate their changing needs with minimal effort. “Domestic InFlux” overlaps typologies and program so that the occupant can use the house for any function by collapsing certain program and allowing others to expand.
Although today’s house is larger than in the past, the average family is smaller. Houses today have also become more segmented, isolating program that has been limited to a predefined area by the architecture. Technology is partially responsible for this change. With improved technology we have become less interested in taking advantage of the site and environment in our life at home, and more interested in using that technology to help us block out the rest of the world and disregard the potentials of the site. As technology develops and the world becomes more efficient, so should the house.
As a society we have conflicting desires. We want to live in the city, but we also want to live in a mansion. We want more stuff, but we don’t want to look at it. Special occasions require increased occupancy in a space that is unoccupied for most of the year. With “Domestic InFlux” a mansion can be fit into a row house, turning it in to a Swiss Army house or a house for every need.
The “Domestic InFlux” house is no longer passive. It is interactive and dynamic, influencing the way we perceive space at every scale, including the scale of the neighborhood. As these houses aggregate, the residual spaces become outdoor rooms that can be occupied by the community.